Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

A Different Kind of Hero	By : JunjouSlashGirl Category: Harry Potter > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 53263 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 10
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the characters. All rights belong to J. K. Rowling. I do not earn any money with this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Chapter 17: Extracting a Soul
HP
The second day after he had woken up from the ritual, Harry had spent mostly in his father's lab, or up in his room with Ron and Hermione, avoiding Ginny and his former guardians.
Down in the lab he had watched his father brew the Potion they would use to extract Voldemort's soul from his body, played chess against him and Lucius, or had just sat there cuddling with one of the two men. They also tried to speculate what kind of side effects the removal of the soul piece would possibly have and came to the conclusion that no one else besides them should probably be there when they finally started the procedure; magical backlashes were one of the possible outcomes, after all the Horcrux had been connected to him for eleven years and would probably not like leaving its hiding place; they at least would survive such an explosion.
When he was with Ron and Hermione, they had started to train Justitius, which was an even harder task than they had imagined. The first step was to show his little familiar all kinds of things and name them, because according to Merlin, Phoenixes and their foundlings were able to learn to understand the human language quite quickly. But Justitius had the attention span of a infant and preferred to flutter around excitedly instead of listening to them. Hermione had pointed out that the bat was still very young and clearly not of the calmest temperament, which made it all the more difficult.
Harry honestly wasn't sure how much the bat had listened and just hoped that he was a natural genius, like his mate or father.
He had also tried to avoid Ginny as much as possibly, which had been really successful due to the fact that not only his mate and father, but also his friends and even Molly had an eye on the girl. His father had been rather annoyed after the garden incident (as they had started to refer to it) and when Ginny tried her advances on him the day before; he had gone to the Weasley matron and had told her about the brazen behaviour of her daughter. Molly had nearly flipped and the scolding she had given her daughter had been clearly heard throughout the whole of Grimmauld Place.
Sadly, Sirius, Lupin and he had not yet talked to each other again. Harry knew that Sirius was miserable, but after his father had apparently fed him some harmful Potions after his awakening with the help of Lucius, the two Marauders had started to watch him, Severus, and the aristocrat whenever they were together in a room, driving Harry even more into hiding and annoying him to no end. Hermione and Ron had been up and about to go find the men and give them another piece of their minds, but he had luckily been able to prevent it.
He had yet to find out what he had learned during his three-day sleep, but Dumbledore had told him that he should enjoy the last few days of his holidays and give his brain some more time to settle down. His brain still honestly felt a bit overloaded, but it was getting better with every day. It had been a shock to find out that he had slept for so long and that everybody had watched him during the time. He had cooked for everybody as a thank you gift and was happy to find out that he was still able to cook quite well, despite everything tasting like paper or something equally tasteless due to his keen nose.
Right now it was the day before they had to return to Hogwarts and he was with Justitius out in the garden, telling him all kinds of things about flowers and plants in general and trying not to think that he was only a few days away from being separated from his mate for a very long time. How he would be able to endure weeks or even month without his mate was a mystery to him. He could still remember very well how he had felt as he had returned to Grimmauld Place, whilst Lucius had gone back to his own Manor. Of course he could still remember it, it had been just a bit over a week ago and he had nearly gone insane at the end.
If he had a choice, he would just not return, but both his mate and his father would surely kill him slowly and torturously if he even dared to try and they were right in some ways, because even an immortal vampire would be jobless without a complete school education, but right now that was not a real reason for him to return. It became even less of a reason when he looked at the lists Gringotts had sent him a few days ago and saw that there was not even a financial reason to go and get a job after Hogwarts anyway.
Harry had a whole list of points that supported his wish to stay with his mate, but he didn't even dare to bring them up in front of either men. It was, basically, the reason why he was currently very miserable, bad tempered and alone with only his bat in the garden for company.
"Look, Justitius," he called to the bat, who glanced over at him and Harry could swear that the little fellow had just rolled his huge, golden eyes, but at least he came fluttering over.
"Isn't that flower beautiful? It is a rose and the red thing over there on the tree is an apple. You know; the things you love to eat."
Apples were one of the candied treats he had brought for Justitius and the bat really got annoying if he didn't get at least one piece of sweet daily. As soon as he could start taking care of his letter delivery, Harry would make sure that he only got them as a reward. Justitius perked up at the mention of one of his candies and quickly fluttered to the apple. His little tongue came out and licked over the fruit. Justitius turned and threw him a filthy and very disappointed glare.
Harry chuckled: "That apple is not candied, so it is not as sweet, you need sugar for that."
Huffing, Justitius flew up to the window leading to his and his friends' room. Harry sighed; the little bat liked to sulk whenever he didn't get whatever he wanted and most of the time he blamed Harry for it.
Two arms suddenly wrapped around his body and a soft kiss was pressed against his neck.
"Lucius, I didn't hear you coming," he whispered, leaning back into the embrace.
"Is Justitius sulking again?" His mate asked and started to nip lightly at his neck. A long finger came up; a claw slid down Harry's neck, making him sigh in pleasure while Lucius’ cane was pressed slightly between his legs.
Blushing, Harry, stepped away from Lucius; they were in the garden after all and it wouldn't be good if someone found him wrapped in the aristocrat's arms with his snake cane between his legs, on his last day at Grimmauld Place:
"Let me guess, he noticed that it was not as sweet as he had hoped?" Lucius asked with an amused smirk on his face.
"Yep," Harry answered, still feeling hot, something very heavy had stirred at the touch of Lucius' famous item, a desire he could not describe, but it had felt so very intimate and naughty at the same time.
"Poor guy," Lucius purred.
Harry's lower region announced its interest even more at the deep, velvet like voice that dripped like honey over his ears and he quickly searched for something that would change the topic to get his mind from the fantasy, which included not only his mate, but also the man's cane.
"So...why did you come outside?" he asked quickly, a bit too quickly.
Lucius grinned wickedly and said in the same voice: "Can I not come out to see my cute submissive?"
Harry groaned, why did Lucius do this to him? The man knew what effect he had on Harry and that was probably the reason why he liked to tease him. His eyes started to roam his dominant’s perfect body without his permission and his fingers itched to slide under Lucius’ white button down and glide over the warm and soft skin in front of him, and then his eyes actually landed on said cane, which had him so distracted right now. He felt a flush creeping up his neck and Lucius’ playful smirk changed into one of triumph.
"Did you just come out to rile me up and make me flush?" Harry glared back at him, but as always, his glare didn't impress his mate at all; who after all could share the first place with his father in any glaring contest.
"No. Of course not." Lucius said, much softer, glancing around quickly, before pressing a kiss to Harry's head. "I came out to tell you that the Potion for you and Nagini is ready and to give you this," his mate extracted a shrunken cardboard box from his pocket and gave it Harry. He had some trouble focusing his mind again, but finally he eyed the box suspiciously and decided that it looked awfully familiar.
"I have enough clothes," he said and tried to give the box back to his mate, who only crossed his arm in refusal and replied: "But you still need new school robes."
"I have enough school robes as well; they are all upstairs in my trunk. I have not grown last year, so I don't need new ones and probably never will, since I will never start growing again."
Lucius wrinkled his nose as if he wanted to tell Harry that everyone needed new school robes at least once a year regardless of their growing rate, but what he actually said was even worse:
"You don't think that you can wear normal school robes as the legal heir to Hogwarts? There are special robes for you now. I certainly know that, because I am one of Hogwarts governors."
Harry blinked in surprise: "That's a joke, isn't it? I wanted to keep the whole heir to Hogwarts thing a secret."
Lucius snorted: "That is ridiculous. The students will not be ignorant enough to not notice that you have your own room suddenly with the Hogwarts crest on the door."
Harry huffed; he should have guessed that something like this would happen.
"You will wear new robes and the signet ring and if you are lucky it will be enough to distract everybody from noticing that you are wearing a bandage around your right hand every day," his mate ordered with slight insistence.
"Fine," Harry mumbled and opened the package. As soon as he had extracted off the ribbon that held the box closed, it enlarged until it was nearly as long as he was high and Harry had to lay it down on the grass.
Taking off the lid, he saw that the box was divided in several differently sized sections. In each section lay a different part of his new robes. He saw his red and golden ties, white button downs, and black cloaks and wondered what the difference was, until he noticed the black shorts, Gryffindor red stockings and the waistcoat in the same colour.
Blinking down at the garments, he was trying to decide whether he should be annoyed or not. To be honest, he liked his new look very much, especially because Lucius liked to see him in his new attire and it really suited his character but this...
"Really Lucius? You want me to wear these kinds of clothes after Skeeter's article? I thought you don't like everybody looking at my ass," he commented, already knowing that it wasn't true.
"I have no problem when others looking at your cute backside, knowing that they can never have it, I just do not appreciate it when they do not realize that you are already taken and try to get their dirty hands on you," Lucius drawled in reply.
"Just so that I know that I understand you right: You like to dress me up prettily and sexily to show me off? I am not a woman who likes to be treated like a dress-up doll and I am not a diamond to wear around your neck either," Harry glared, he had no problem with the whole being intimate in public thing because it would only show others how much they cared for each other, but this was a whole different notion.
"Oh I know that you are not a woman," Lucius said suggestively, stepping a bit closer to Harry, rubbing his thigh against his crotch this time.
Harry quickly stepped back and continued to glare. Lucius leaned forwards and whispered: "I thought you liked my attention. Or why have you started to swing your hips so suggestively whenever I am around?"
Huffing, he replied: "I am not purposefully swinging my hips as soon as you are around, or whatever it is you are thinking."
"You are right, it was only like that in the beginning, now you do it without even thinking about it, just in case I am somewhere watching you," Lucius purred and Harry flushed again. His mate was right, why was the aristocrat so damn intelligent?
At any other time he would have admitted that he relished in Lucius’ attention, that he liked his eyes on his body and the knowledge that Lucius was only thinking about him in those moments, about kissing him, touching him, pleasuring him or just holding him in his strong arms, but not right now.
He would also not admit that he quite often provoked the blonde's lustful stares by bending down suggestively, picking something up, or looking up secretively at his mate from under his lashes, which made him look even cuter and sexier. He had even reached the point where he could admit that he certainly was not bad on the eye, even though it was not the strong, sexy beauty Lucius possessed and he had always secretly wanted in the past.
So, if he did enjoy his dominant's attention, why was he so annoyed right now? Because in contrast to his very self-confident mate he had no clue how to deal with unwanted attention from strangers and he would be the one who would need to live with it. He didn't want to feel the looks of other males or even females on his ass; at least, not as long as Lucius couldn't openly stand at his side and protect him as his mate. If he went to Hogwarts dressed like he was right now, he would be like a piece of meat in front of a hungry group of lions.
But if he refused to wear his new school robes, he would hurt his mate. This really was a huge dilemma.
After another moment of silence he huffed and asked: "Will you tell dad to punish everybody who gets too overly bold?"
"I will," Lucius promised and closed the box, before shrinking it and pocketing it again, before adding "Let's go to Severus and get that filthy piece of soul out of your and Nagini's bodies," and striding back into the house.
They went inside together and down to his father's lab. Harry entered first after he had knocked softly and froze at the sight in front of him. His father and his two guardians were sitting on the green sofa (Sirius and Remus occupied the couch whilst his father had conjured a chair), silently glaring at each other but not a single insulting word crossed their lips. Harry hadn't expected them to be there for...whatever they were about to do to get the Horcrux out of him, not after the last few days and he really was pissed right now, so he snapped without caring if it was the right thing to do:
"I thought you wouldn't care now that you know who my real dad is?" he asked rather coldly.
Sirius and Remus turned around to face him and looked guiltily at the floor as soon as they saw him. "Harry," Remus started his voice full of guilt. "You were right, and Ron and Hermione and Molly, too. It shouldn’t matter who your father is and we should wait and give Snape a chance before we criticize him as a father; it is not so unusual that Potions cause a bad reaction in the beginning and we should not have been so quick to condemn him."
"I can't understand why it is so hard for you to be happy for me. I know it was a shock: it was for me as well and I know that you two don’t have the advantage of your instincts helping you to accept...this new development, but you didn't have to get so insulting either," Harry said, crossing his arms, he would not be so easily forgiving this time. Their words and behaviour had hurt too much.
"We realize that, Harry," Sirius sighed. "But you must understand it is Sni...Sna...what should I call the father of my godson, whom I hate?" Sirius asked irritably.
"You can continue to call me Snape, because anything else would need my permission, which you will not get," his father sneered.
Sirius glared at the man, but continued: "Look, it is not only the fact that we found out that you are not the son of our late best friend, but we also found out that you are Snape's instead and that was...is...really difficult to accept."
Getting even more annoyed, he asked: "You still have not accepted it?" He had hoped that this conversation would at least help everybody to understand the other party better.
"We have. It's still hard to believe and I will still not be able to call him a good parent yet," Sirius huffed.
Harry sighed and combed his fingers through his hair; he really was not a person who could stay angry for very long, not if the other party looked so regretful. He just hated arguments and he could also understand his godfather. The thought of losing both his best friends and then receiving news like Sirius just had made him sick to his stomach. Sighing, he said: "That is okay, I don't expect you to greet him with open arms." He glared at his father when he made a choking noise. "Maybe it will help you to accept everything if you try to remember that I might not be James' son, but I am the son of his beloved cousin, his nephew a few times removed, and the boy he sacrificed his life for. It was still him who named you my godfather and entrusted part of my wellbeing to you. It wasn't as if Lily tricked him into helping her, he knew what he was doing. He knew all along who my real father was and he still died to save me. "
Sirius gulped audibly and he and Remus looked even guiltier, but Lucius’ warm hand squeezing his shoulder told him that he had said the right thing despite the crestfallen looks on the men's faces.
"Good," Lucius commented after a moment of heavy silence. "Now that this issue is cleared, may we proceed?"
Harry heard Sirius mumble something sounding like "Snobby bastard," but ignored it and instead turned back to his mate and father: "Can someone fetch Ron and Hermione? They were always by my side in some way when I faced Voldemort and I would like them to be here this time as well; at least in the beginning until they have to go."
"I'll go and get them," Remus offered.
"And try to bring Nagini. Just look into her the eyes and say Harry, she knows my name in our language and should follow you, I think it is thanks to Voldemort's constant ranting about me, she also knows the name Dumbledore and that it is synonymous to old fool." Harry added, snickering.
Remus nodded and disappeared out of the lab.
"Lucius and I will wait until your friends have arrived before we explain the procedure," Severus said and went over to look at the Connecting Potion one last time.
Harry nodded and sat down in the empty space next to Sirius. He felt faintly ill, the memory of his last encounter with a piece of Voldemort's soul came back to his mind and he wondered if it would be as bad.
"How will we destroy the pieces in the end?" He asked, when Ron and Hermione came in, both wearing similar worried expressions on their faces.
"I have prepared a strong Acid Potion that should take care of the problem" Lucius said. Harry threw him an accusing look; he would have liked to see his mate brew. Lucius had told him that he was a Potions Master as well, but he had never actually seen his mate work with a cauldron. He saw his mate make a motion as if he wanted to ruffle through his hair, but Lucius caught himself and was standing still and proudly again before anyone could notice anything.
Hermione, who had just joined them along with Ron, Nagini and Remus, cleared her throat and then asked: "What will you do exactly? It sounds difficult to extract a piece of someone's soul out of another's body."
"It certainly will be Miss Granger," Lucius drawled in his typical Malfoy voice.
His father continued, looking at him. "We will restrain you, before we place this golden stamp on your scar and extract the piece out with a combined Extracting Spell from Lucius and myself."
"Why on your scar?" Ron asked, eying him doubtfully, even though it was Lucius and Severus who explained everything.
"Because this is the place, where the soul has entered Harry's body," Lucius explained.
"And why are you and Malfoy doing the spell and not Remus and me?" Sirius asked brusquely.
Harry exchanged a look with his mate and father; they all knew why it would be better if the Slytherins did the spell. It could come to a backlash of Voldemort's lingering dark magic and it would be better if the vampires were hit by it than his still very mortal guardians. But they couldn't explain it like that.
Whilst he and Severus were still looking questioningly at each other, Lucius had already turned, his best arrogant expression on his face: "Because I don’t have the patience to explain the procedure to the two of you. I would like to actually get it done today."
Sirius growled, but Remus laid a hand on his forearm to calm him back down and said clearly audibly: "At least, he is not Harry's father."
Seeing the smirk tugging at his mate's lips, Harry quickly said: "Lucius is right, we should get it over with."
"Then go over to that wall and stay in front of it," Severus ordered him and Harry obliged with a queasy feeling in his stomach. Lucius and Severus followed him, whilst everybody else was watching attentively. With a flick of the man's wand, iron chains sprung out of the walls, binding him tightly to the cold stone behind him. A chain had wrapped around each of his ankles and wrists, whilst two others were wrapped across his torso like an X.
Harry tried to move, but the chains didn't even budge an inch. He wasn't sure whether he should feel better or worse now and decided to not think about it at all.
"Is that really necessary?" Sirius asked, his eyes fixed on the thick restraints.
"You will see that it is indeed very necessary. It is a piece of Voldemort's soul we try to remove." his father said and motioned for Lucius to stand next to him.
"A moment," Lucius said and waved Hermione over to him, who looked as surprised as Harry felt at that moment, but quickly stood up. His mate lowered his voice, so that the others would not hear his words, but Harry could understand him anyway:
"Miss Granger, Harry told me that you are one of his two best friends and a smart witch."
The witch looked astonished but nodded hesitantly.
"He also told me that you would do anything for him, is that true?" the aristocrat whispered.
"He is right," Hermione answered, her eyes quickly darting over to him. Harry could see the question in her brown orbs, but he didn't know what his mate was going on about either.
"Will you help him keep his inheritance a secret?" Lucius asked; his voice a bit suggestive as if daring Hermione to refuse.
The girl chewed on her bottom lip, curiosity clearly fighting against the wish to be a good friend.
"So you know what he is?" she asked, not yet answering and Harry slowly grew nervous. Hermione's greed of knowledge was her biggest weakness.
"I had the ‘fortune’ of being there when he received his heritage," Lucius answered, making it sound as if it had been an unpleasant event for him, something he would like to forget. Harry snorted inwardly; his mate could have become an actor.
Hermione's eyes fixed on his again and Harry could see the moment when she her eyes grew hard and she had decided: "I will."
"Then stand next to him and keep his glamour up as soon as you see them waver around the edges," Lucius didn't ask again, he had already asked before.
"Thank you, Mione," he whispered and she gave him a reassuring smile.
"You should know that I would never let you down, not even if I were to find out that your mate is actually Lucius Malfoy," she giggled and Harry was about to get a heart attack; which would be interesting, being an immortal vampire, when she stopped giggling and added: "But luckily he isn't. That would be too unlikely to happen even for you."
"Yeah, thanks, Mione," He smiled in relief and hoped that she would remember what she just promised when he told her that she had been right with her joke.
His father stepped in front of him then, a golden lightning bolt-stamp in his dragon hide gloved hands, which was dripping with an oily and reddish Potion. The Potion’s scent invaded Harry's sensitive nose and he wrinkled the offended appended. It smelled like a mixture of a strong acid and an even stronger alcohol.
"This might hurt," His father warned him just a second before pressing the little piece of pure gold to his forehead and searing pain erupted in his head.
°ºooº°°ºooº°°ºooº°°ºooº°°ºooº°
SS
Severus' heart clenched in anguish as he heard his son starting to scream in agony. Everything in him screamed to take away the potion-soaked stamp from Harry, who was chained to the wall like a virgin sacrifice.
Next to him Lucius had cast the spell as soon as Harry started screaming. The stamp now held on to Harry without him pressing it to his son's forehead and he cast the extracting spell as well, before slowly stepping backwards. After so many years, the Dark Lord's soul had attached itself very strongly to Harry, nearly becoming a part of him, but luckily only nearly. He increased the power of his spell and felt a growl rising in his chest, but he quickly suppressed it and concentrated back on his spell, Lucius and in Harry in front of him.
Harry was writhing in his binds, his muscles were tense and the veins on his thin throat were pulsing violently. Severus wanted to close his eyes, no torture the Dark Lord had ever inflicted on him was as great as seeing the pain of his son and knowing that he was the cause of it.
He saw Lucius shifting next to him, strengthening his spell as well. Harry’s scream grew even louder when the stamp finally moved an inch away from his forehead, a black shadow attached to it. That was the Horcrux.
Blood was running down Harry's scar like a small river. He heard Lucius growl in distress, the blood probably had an even worse effect on him, due to its normally arousing quality for his friend. The stamp moved another inch, but Severus could feel his magic weakening quickly, even a seventh part of the Dark Lord's soul was apparently immensely powerful. His eyes widened in horror, when the stamp made a jerk and was again closer to Harry.
"Quickly!" He barked to everybody. "We need more power!"
The redhead and Harry's former guardians were on their feet and next to him and Lucius in a moment, shouting the extracting spell nearly simultaneously.
"When I give the command, you will all end your spell and jump to the side!" He told them, determined to keep the people Harry considered family out of harm's way. No one nodded; they did not have the energy to do so.
The stamp jerked again, this time in their direction. The panting of Black, Lupin and Weasley sounded loud in his ears, as he concentrated harder on their goal. He would free his son, he would make the horrible visions and the agonizing dreams stop.
He saw Granger lift her wand from the corner of his eyes. The girl reacted quickly as Harry's glamour flickered around the edges.
The stamp moved another inch but Severus felt their joined magic weakening again.
"Granger! ‘Sonorus’ and then call for help!" Lucius shouted next to him and Granger did as told: "Everybody, come downstairs!" she shouted and a moment later quick footsteps could be heard on the staircase.
Molly, Arthur, Fred, George and to his surprise even Minerva and Filius entered.
"What are you doing?" Minerva and Molly screamed in unison.
"No time for explanations, aim the extracting spell at the golden lightning bolt stamp, quick!" Severus commanded and the small group instantly moved. Slowly his lab was getting cramped; they could only hope that eleven people would be enough to get the evil soul from Harry's body.
When the stamp moved the next time, it became clear that the black shadow was not shapeless: Two snake-like eyes which shone like glowing coals became visible and Filius squeaked in surprise.
"Is it a curse from Voldemort?" Minerva panted, sweat dripping from her temple.
"No, even worse, it is a Horcrux," Severus answered quickly. For a second he thought that she and the other stragglers would drop their wands, but the shock on their expressions was quickly replaced by a fierce determination.
Half of the Horcrux' upper body was by now out of his son's body. The small Gryffindor was still screaming. Blood started to pour from his closed eyes and ears as well and a sob erupted from Granger's mouth. There was no way Harry could have survived this as a human.
Luckily he had already prepared some vials with Lucius’ blood after the experience with the ritual. Lucius would need to drink again soon, but he would be able to wait until Harry's body had recovered.
As if following an unspoken command, the whole group took a step back, extracting the Horcrux out to its navel. Harry’s screams reached new heights, apparently the pain increased, as if the lower body of the soul was more firmly connected with his son than its upper half.
His son started to spasm on the wall. Severus wanted to avert his eyes, but he felt as if this would mean that he had left Harry's side and he would never do that.
"Severus, it is too much!" Minerva shouted over his son's screams. "He will die if we keep this up!"
"No, he will survive!" He shouted back.
"Snape, I will trust you this once, but if you are wrong then not even Merlin himself would be able to save your pitiful arse!" Black shouted.
"He will live!" he reassured the man, thankful, that the mutt did not freak for once.
A few more inches of soul left Harry's body; his head sagged forwards and in the next moment everything he had eaten at Molly's command this morning came up again and spilled down his expensive attire.
The smell of vomit hung heavily in the air and a retching sound came from one of the younger Weasley’s.
"Keep on, just a bit more!" Arthur encouraged his family.
Harry's voice had finally broken, probably damaged for the moment and the boy had lost consciousness as he kept twitching in his restrains. Severus could only look on in bafflement that he had been able to keep conscious for so long. What kind of pain was his son used to? How often had he suffered visions? Lucius had told him that Harry's muggle relatives had most likely been abusive, had they also injured the boy?
Pushing the thoughts away, he concentrated back on the soul and noticed that it was only attached by its feet to Harry.
"Now everybody, get out!" He shouted. To his relief no one questioned his command for once. Everybody, with the exception of Lucius, broke their spell and ran out.
As soon as the last Weasley had closed the door behind themselves, he turned his face slightly in Lucius’ direction: "On one! Three, two, one!" The both pushed the remains of their magic into the spell and with a sickening sound; as if someone had drawn their claws over a blackboard the Horcrux detached from his son and went into the golden stamp.
The backlash of magic was enormous. Tendrils of Dark Magic exploded from Harry's body, so thick, that it was even visible like a shockwave of black and green lightning. He was ripped from his feet and hurled through the air, until his back collided with his work counter. His spine gave a sickening crack as it broke at the impact and for a moment his whole body went numb. The pain was not really that bad, but the feeling of when his spine connected again after a few seconds was nothing he would ever get used to. Groaning, he sagged to the floor, feeling weak and shaky.
He looked up over to his friend just in time, to see Lucius' previously dangling head snap back into its original place. The aristocrat let out a moan as well and tried to sit up straighter.
Severus crawled more than walked over to where the Horcrux now lay sealed away in a piece of gold and quickly pocketed it. A hesitant knock sounded at the door and Lucius groaned something that could be an invitation or a rude insult.
Minerva's worried face appeared in the doorway and she gasped as her eyes fell on him and Lucius.
"Oh Merlin!" she exclaimed and came running over, drawing him to his feet with surprising strength, draping one of his arms around her shoulders before helping him to the sofa.
Molly, who accepted everybody who helped Harry or one of her family, had run over to Lucius and was nearly carrying the aristocrat over as well. The Malfoy lord for once looked utterly dishevelled and imperfect and didn't even sneer at the help.
"Severus, can I help you somehow?" Minerva asked as she gently lowered him on the sofa.
"No, I am fine, but someone should get Harry down from the wall," he answered, too weak to do it himself.
Black rushed over to the wall and with a flick of his wand the chains round his son disappeared. The animagus caught Harry before he could fall: "Oh Harry," he said and started to wipe the vomit from Harry's face, before carrying him over as well. Suddenly the man froze in shock: "He is not breathing!" he exclaimed, panic in his voice.
"Lay him next to me on the couch," Severus commanded, whilst Lucius was dropped in an armchair across from him.
Black practically ran over: "Do something, Snape! He’s dying!"
"He is not dying," Severus said, even as he heard Harry's heart beat getting more sluggish. His son looked awful: Blood was covering nearly all of his face and the rest was crusted over by dried vomit. His muscles still twitched in the aftermath of the pain he had to endure and his eyes, although open, were rolled completely backwards, showing only the white.
"His heart is stopping, I can hear it!" the wolf exclaimed.
"Someone go and get Albus and Poppy!" Minerva commanded and one of the twins ran out.
"Bring me the four black vials from my counter," he said and Flitwick summoned them quickly, but before the little wizard could hand them over, Black had grabbed him by his robes and shook him violently: "You bastard!" The mutt shouted. "I trusted you; you said he would not die!"
"He will survive," Severus replied calmly, even as his ears picked up on Harry's heart stopping.
"His heart has stopped!" Lupin announced and he wanted to curse the stupid wolf. For a moment Severus was wondering, why he was still so calm. He could clearly smell Harry's body starting to decay as the first cells in his son's body started to dissolve.
"How could you! Are you happy now, after killing your own son?" Black shouted, tears streaming freely from his face.
"Let go of me, Black, I said he will survive!" his patience snapped and he wrenched himself free from the grasp, quickly taking the vials from the Charms Professor. This would all be so much easier, if he could just tell the mutt and the blasted wolf why Harry wouldn't or couldn't die. Quickly he noticed Granger and Ronald Weasley embracing each other, both sobbing openly. Molly looked like she was in a trance and Arthur was pale like a ghost. The twins had slumped down against a wall, their faces expressionless; he had not even noticed when one of them had returned.
Silently he wondered why he was not as panicked or desperate himself, he could smell his son's body rotting, but his instincts kept him calm. Harry would come around after he had given him some blood. Sure, the child would feel like shit, at least for a few hours, but he would survive without lingering damage. And it would all go faster if he could finally get Lucius' blood inside his son.
Tapping first one of the black vials and then Harry stomach with his wand, he spelled the blood directly into his lifeless son. As soon as the second portion of blood entered his system, he could smell that the decaying process had stopped and after the third, the damaged cells started to repair themselves. When the fourth vial of blood was in Harry's body, his son's heart gave a loud thump and started to beat again, slowly at first, but steadily.
"He is coming back!" Lupin shouted; his amber coloured eyes wide as saucers.
"What?" Black exclaimed and placed a hand on Harry's chest. "Are you sure? I can't feel anything!"
"It is weak, but Harry is alive!"
"Thank Merlin!" Minerva and Molly exclaimed and Harry's two best friends finally stopped their sobbing.
Severus nodded when Granger gave him a questioning look and the two teens came over.
"How is he?" Weasley asked, his voice sounding hoarse.
"Nothing I can not heal with a few Potions. His vocal cords are most likely damaged right now and his nerves and cells have suffered severe damage as well, but he will be back on his feet in no time.
"It is because of his inheritance that he will survive, am I right?" Granger whispered quietly.
"Yes," Severus admitted and cast a cleaning spell on his son.
"Did you know how bad it would get?" the girl asked carefully.
"No, luckily I didn't," he answered, his eyes never leaving his son.
Suddenly his lab door flew open and Albus, followed by Poppy Pomfrey came in.
"How is he?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes laced with worry.
"He will be fine," Severus answered.
"Let me check him over," Poppy demanded and cast some diagnostic spells on Harry, but as usual with a vampire, they did not give any useful results. Frowning, Poppy cast the spells once more.
"It will be of no use, due to his new nature," Lucius suddenly said from his place in the armchair, where he had been watching everything silently.
"I do not like that," Poppy said to Dumbledore. "What kind of creature is he?" Poppy asked, but Albus only shrugged, either not knowing, or not telling, because Harry wanted to keep it a secret. Both options, were in Severus’ opinion, equally likely. Luckily, vampires were so secretive about their nature, that Poppy would not be able to draw any conclusions from Harry's lack of test results.
"What did you do, Severus?" Albus inquired, still looking very shocked.
"We extracted the Horcrux."
Albus eyes widened comically, before a soft and happy smile settled on his lips. "I am very glad, Severus," the old wizard said and squeezed his shoulder.
"Thank you Albus," he answered equally softly.
"Then Poppy and I will leave you to it, we will see you tomorrow," the headmaster said and with a last smile he and the Mediwitch left again.
His eyes met Lucius' as he gazed tiredly through the room and the look in his friend’s silver orbs clearly told him that he should rather get Harry to somewhere more quiet, where he could rest in peace. He nodded in agreement and then announced: "I will take Harry upstairs with me now; he needs rest and peace if he wants to return to Hogwarts tomorrow."
No one argued when he lifted his son into his arms, not even Black or Lupin.
"I will bring you something to eat later," Molly promised and he thanked her, before turning back to Lucius: "Would you fetch another Pain Potion from my storage?"
His friend stood up on shaky legs and made his way to the large cupboard. Severus was impressed with how quickly Lucius had pulled himself together, but he was a Malfoy after all. Even though the aristocrat would feel as exhausted as he himself and despite his torn clothes and dishevelled hair, he walked upright and nearly as confidently and elegantly as always.
He went ahead and found out that three flights of stairs could get exhausting even for a vampire. When he was in front of his room, he pressed the door handle down with his elbow and stepped inside, before placing his still unconscious son on his bed. With a flick of his wand he transfigured the elegant clothing into a set of pyjamas.
Lucius stepped into his room and sat down next to Harry. "I have brought another dose of the Potion you gave him after the ritual," his friend said and placed the vials on his nightstand next to Harry.
"Thank you," Severus said and spelled the content into Harry's stomach, like he had done with the blood.
"I would have never imagined that I could ever feel this exhausted as a vampire. Maybe it is good that Harry doesn't actually plan on fighting the Dark Lord," the aristocrat said.
"Maybe, but whatever he plans, it will not be easy," he answered and transfigured his robes as well.
"Keep an eye on him for me as I am sure you will not let me sleep in your bed with you," Lucius sighed and stood up again.
"Certainly not," Severus replied and took Lucius’ place.
"I would never let Harry stay with anybody else if I could not be around," his friend admitted.
"It is good that we have our keen senses, and it is even better that Harry will have his own room in Hogwarts," he agreed.
Lucius nodded exhaustedly. "Curiously enough, I cannot see Weasley or Granger as a threat. Harry told me how close they were and somehow, they really leave the impression that they are siblings."
Severus thought about it for a moment and then said: "Sometimes, friends can become more of a family than you actual relatives, but I still hope that I will be able to give him a real family after all."
"You already do, Severus. We both give him a real family and he loves you already," Lucius gave him one of his rare smiles, even though it looked rather pathetic at the moment.
"I am sure he loves you as well," he replied, lying down next to Harry.
The trademark smirk was back on Lucius' lips. "He does, or is well on the way of falling for me."
Severus snorted and rolled his eyes. If he didn't know that his friend would do anything for his little mate, he would be worried about his son right now.
"He is not yet ready to admit his feelings, or he can still not name them. Harry is young, he has never experienced love before and his young mind needs longer to decipher his feelings; instincts cannot help with everything. I myself could not have understood love at his age," Lucius mused and then added: "Call me when he wakes up," before closing the door behind him.
Severus sighed in exhaustion and pulled the blanket over their bodies, before turning on his side and wrapping an arm around Harry. Harry was so exhausted that he did not even possess the strength to cuddle closer, but as he gave a pitiful whimper in his sleep, he drew the small child against his chest.
Smiling down at his son, he whispered: "Sleep well, Harry, you were very brave today," before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek and closing his eyes.
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A Different Kind of Hero